*World’s top simracers prepare for battle on RaceRoom Racing Experience platform *Time attack for Hungaroring opener begins at 18h00 CET today *Live streaming of all races at 19h00 CET on Sundays in October and November *No charge to register for popular online series *CUPRA Leon Competitión set for Esports WTCR debut *MotorLand Aragón and Circuit Zolder are new venues on the RaceRoom platform
The official Esports championship of the WTCR − FIA World Touring Car Cup from RaceRoom Racing Experience gets underway with virtual versions of five of the venues that feature on the actual WTCR calendar set to challenge some of the best simracers in the business.
With a prize fund of €10,000 up for grabs, the online stars will be able to select the cars and liveries as featured in this year’s WTCR. Registration is free with live streaming of the five race nights planned from 19h00 CET on Sundays in October and November.
A highly competitive driver line-up is expected to compete on the live-streamed top server. It includes Polish talents Kuba Brzezinskiand Nikodem Wisniewski from Williams Esports, who dominated the Esports WTCR live final in Kuala Lumpur last December before going on to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans Virtual during the summer. Gergo Baldi (M1RA Esports), last season’s Esports WTCR online champion and Beat the Drivers winner, and 2018 Esports WTCR champion Bence Bánki (Red Bull Racing Esports) are also set for action.
Other simracers expected to take part include ADAC GT Masters Esports champion Moritz Löhner (Williams Esports), plus several leading Esports teams, such as Triple A Esports, EURONICS Gaming, Team Fordzilla, Virtualdrivers by TX3 and the South American Snow Schatten Esports team.
ESPORTS WTCR 2020 CALENDAR
The 2020 Esports WTCR Championship features three races over five rounds as follows:
Hungaroring
Time attack starts: 18h00 CET, October 2
Time attack ends: 20h00 CET, October 14
Live stream: 19h00 CET, October 18 (to coincide with WTCR Race of Hungary)
Slovakia Ring
Time attack starts: 20h00 CET, October 14
Time attack ends: 20h00 CET, October 21
Live stream: 19h00 CET, October 25
MotorLand Aragón
Time attack starts: 20h00 CET, October 21
Time attack ends: 20h00 CET, October 28
Live stream: 19h00 CET, November 1 (to coincide with WTCR Race of Hungary)
Nürburgring Nordschleife
Time attack starts: 20h00 CET, October 28
Time attack ends: 20h00 CET, November 18
Live stream: 19h00 CET, November 22
Circuit Zolder
Time attack starts: 20h00 CET, November 18
Time attack ends: 20h00 CET, November 25
Live stream: 19h00 CET, November 29
THREE’S THE MAGIC NUMBER
Run in partnership with the RaceRoom Racing Experience, this will be the third Esports WTCR online championship and follows on from the Beat the Drivers series during lockdown when leading simracers went up against WTCR drivers. Gergo Baldi came out on top, although Esteban Guerrieri showed his virtual pace with victory in the final race. The Beat the Drivers series was the precursor to the inaugural Pre-Esports WTCR Championship, contested by WTCR − FIA World Touring Car racers past and present. Yann Ehrlacher took the title and has carried that form into the real thing with victories at the first two events of the season.
FREE ENTRY FOR ESPORTS WTCR
Esports WTCR on RaceRoom Racing Experience is free to enter. To take part, download RaceRoom for the PC on Steam free of charge via this link:
https://store.steampowered.
The cars and tracks are also available free of charge for the duration of Esports WTCR. Follow this link for more information: http://game.
For this season, rookie drivers are being encouraged to join the time attack rounds and challenge the lap times of friends and online racers around the world with participation free. As well as the top server, there will be three additional servers offering multiplayer races for differing skill levels.
ALL RACES STREAMED LIVE
For the first time, all Esports WTCR Championship events will include three races with the action from the top server streamed live. The season kicks off at a virtual Hungaroring from 19h00 CET on Sunday October 18, which coincides with WTCR Race of Hungary. James Kirk and Robert Wiesenmüller will provide their usual expert commentary.
BIG REWARDS WITH PRIZE FUND OF €10,00
RaceRace Racing Experience has pledged a prize fund of €10,000 to be divided between the main Esports WTCR Championship and the Asian servers (see below).
SEPARATE COMPETITION PLANNED FOR PLAYERS IN ASIA AND OCEANA
For players in Asia and Oceania, a separate season with dedicated servers in Asia will be held to guarantee a smooth online racing experience. Details will follow from RaceRoom Racing Experience in due course.
